Jim Davis, who created the cat decades ago, said he embraced the opportunity to put readers in his strips, noting that his cat has long had a habit of breaking through the fourth wall and addressing readers directly.

“It’s really a nod to where the industry is going,” Davis said in an interview from his studio in rural Indiana. “I’m talking about entertainment in general ? TV, movies, newspapers, journalism, cartooning. Everything is going online.”

He said that “this interaction with the public, with the fans, can be a very healthy thing and can be great fun. It really brings intellectual properties like ‘Garfield’ to the public in a very personal way.”